Storage shelving comprising a lift

ABSTRACT

A storage lift has shelving columns having lateral panels provided with support sections ( 5 ) for storage goods carriers. Each column has four stays ( 4 ) configured as mountable and dismountable panel elements ( 7 ). The panel elements have a sandwich-type structure consisting of a contoured plate ( 12 ) and a support plate ( 13 ) connected to it to increase the rigidity of the support sections ( 5 ). The structure of the storage width facilitates and accelerates construction of storage lifts on site.

The invention relates to a store lift with a multiplicity of pairs ofsupporting profiles which are spaced apart one above the other onmutually opposite walls of a housing and are intended forstorage-article carriers which can be stored and retrieved, and with avertical conveyer which can be moved up and down in relation to thepairs of supporting profiles and is provided with a horizontal conveyingarrangement by means of which a horizontal movement can be introducedinto the storage-article carriers in order to transfer them from thevertical conveyer to a pair of supporting profiles in each case or froma pair of supporting profiles to the vertical conveyer, the supportingprofiles being designed as convexities which project into the interiorof the housing and are integral to profile panels which have anessentially meandering cross section and are fastened on verticalsupporting posts.

Store lifts of the abovementioned type stand on a comparatively smallsurface area and, not least for this reason, can be integratedparticularly well in industrial construction processes, be it for thestorage of tools or for the intermediate storage of workpieces. Onaccount of their size, assembly at the site of installation isimperative, the use of pre-assembled subassemblies contributing to rapidconstruction, which is required by the customer, and consequently beingvery much the norm. The selection and configuration of differentsubassemblies, each forming final assembly units, are of criticalimportance here.

Increasing transportation and final assembly problems occur, however, asthe size of the individual subassemblies which are to be connected toone another on site increases.

In the case of a store lift known from DE 195 01 718 A1, the profilepanels, which consist of sheet steel, are welded, in the region of theirvertical borders, to the supporting posts of the lift to formcomparatively heavy and bulky assembly units which form side-wall partsof the housing of the store lift.

The dimensions of the abovementioned assembly units make the latter moredifficult both to transport and to assemble on site. Apart from this, itis also the case that the known design cannot be fully satisfactoryinsofar as, in order to achieve sufficient rigidity of the supportingprofiles, the thickness of the steel sheets used to produce the same hasto be comparatively large. The fact that the wall parts formed by theprofile panels form not just profiled inner-wall sections but alsoprofiled outer-wall sections, which give rise to undesired dustdeposits, additionally proves to be inexpedient in cases of the knownstore lift.

Side-wall sections which are produced from sheet steel by virtue ofhollow webs which form supporting profiles being pressed in are alsoknown from DE 298 07 208 U1. In this case, during assembly of the storelift, comparatively small profile panels are connected to the supportingposts by a multiplicity of screws. The amount of time required for thescrew-connection operation and the costs for producing the threadedbores in the supporting posts are considerable. As with the known storelift described previously, the rigidity of the profile webs isassociated with the problem of the cost-effective production of theprofiling requiring small sheet-metal thicknesses, while thesatisfactory support of the load-carriers, in contrast, requires largesheet-metal thicknesses.

The object of the invention is to provide a store lift of the type inquestion, which is equipped with highly rigid profile panels which arecost-effective to produce and quick to install. The object is achievedaccording to the invention in that the profile panels are stiffened ontheir outsides by supporting panels which are firmly connected to themto form a sandwich-like wall element, and in that each of the wallsprovided with supporting profiles comprises a plurality of wall elementswhich are arranged one above the other and of which the supportingpanels can be fitted individually into the supporting posts.

The sandwich construction of the profile panels of the store liftaccording to the invention benefits not just the bending strength of theindividual profiles but also the panel as a whole, and thus allows theuse of the proposed “fit-in-type assembly”. It goes without saying thatan additional advantage is provided by the fact that the outer side-wallsections of the lift housing which are equipped with profile panels havea smooth surface achieved by the supporting panels.

Further features and details of the invention can be gathered from thesubclaims and from the following description of an exemplary embodimentillustrated in the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows the perspective view of a store lift, assembly of which islargely complete;

FIG. 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, details of the supporting posts ofthe store lift according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows, on an enlarged scale, details of the panels which are tobe connected to one another to form wall elements for the store liftaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the parts which engage with one another when wall elementsare fitted into the supporting posts;

FIG. 5 shows the partial view of a wall element fitted into a supportingpost;

FIG. 6 shows a section through the parts illustrated in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 shows a schematic illustration of the overlapping parts of threewall elements arranged one above the other.

The store lift illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises two rack columns 1 and 2which enclose between them a shaft 3 for a vertical conveyer (notillustrated) and of which each has four supporting posts 4, to which ineach case a plurality of lateral wall elements 7, which form supportingprofiles 5 for storage-article carriers 6, are connected in a releasablemanner. As generally illustrated by FIG. 1, the supporting profiles 5form bulges which project into a housing for the storage-articlecarriers 6. The basic construction described above corresponds to theprior art and thus need not be explained in any more detail.

In contrast to what has been known up until now, the supporting posts 4,which have a C-profile cross section, are each provided, on both sidesof their vertically running longitudinal slots 8, with a row of H-shapedpunched-out portions 9, which follow one after the other at the spacingA and of which each forms two mutually opposite retaining protrusions10, 11. The H-shape of the punched-out portions 9 means that the fitterof the store lift need not maintain a certain pivoting direction whenthe supporting posts 4 are being rendered upright. If one is prepared todo without this opportunity to disregard the pivoting direction, thenthe H-shaped punched-out portions may be replaced by T-shapedpunched-out portions with just one retaining protrusion in each case.

The punched-out portions 9 allow the convenient and quick fitting, andin cases of damage the just as straightforward removal, of wall elements7 which, in the present case, each comprise a profile panel 12 and asupporting panel 13 connected in a sandwich-like manner thereto. In FIG.3, to aid understanding, the two panels 12, 13 are illustratedseparately from one another. As can be seen, in the region of its sideborders which are to be connected to the supporting posts 4, thesupporting panel 13 has vertically running U-shaped profile sections 14,15 which, on the one hand, increase the stability of the supportingpanel 13, and, on the other hand, allow one of the side borders of thesupporting panel 13 to be used as a directing flank 16 forstorage-article carriers 6 which are to be transferred to the supportingprofiles 5 of the profile panels 12 in the region of a charging opening.

The supporting panels 13 are provided with punch-out portions 17 whichare assigned to the punched out portions 9 and form dormer-window-likeprotrusions 18, which provide pockets for accommodating the retainingprotrusions 10 which can be seen from FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows, on an enlarged scale, part of a wall element 7 which isfitted into a supporting post 4 and, at its top horizontal border, isprovided with lug-like protrusions 19 which—as can be gathered from FIG.7 —allow successive wall elements 7 to be arranged in an overlappingmanner. A multiplicity of weld spots 20 serve for connecting therespective profile panel 12 to a supporting panel 13. In order to ensurea stable connection between the wall elements 7 and the supporting posts4, the spacing A between in each case two adjacent punched-out portions9 or 17 should be no greater than three times the spacing a betweensuccessive supporting profiles 5 in each case. As illustrated by FIG. 7,the supporting profiles (5) have a cross section which is formed by thelegs of a right-angled triangle. Moreover, it should be ensured that theprotrusions 19 are long enough to satisfy the condition H>h, i.e. inorder for it to be possible for each wall element to be removed in themanner indicated at 21 in FIG. 7 and to be refitted in the oppositedirection.

1. A store lift with a multiplicity of pairs of supporting profileswhich are spaced apart one above the other on mutually opposite walls ofa housing for storage-article carriers which can be stored andretrieved, and with a vertical conveyor which can be moved up and downin relation to the pairs of supporting profiles and is provided with ahorizontal conveying arrangement by means of which a horizontal movementcan be introduced into the storage-article carriers for transferringsaid storage-article carriers from the vertical conveyor to a pair ofsaid supporting profiles or from a pair of said supporting profiles tothe vertical conveyor, the supporting profiles forming bulges whichproject into the interior of the housing and are integral to profilepanels which are fastened on vertical supporting posts, characterized inthat the profile panels (12) are stiffened on their outsides bysupporting panels (13) which are firmly connected to them to form a wallelement (7), and in that each of the walls provided with supportingprofiles (5) comprises a plurality of wall elements (7) which arearranged one above the other and of which the supporting panels (13) canbe fitted individually into the supporting posts (4).
 2. The store liftas claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the profile panels (12) areconnected to the supporting panels (13) by a multiplicity of weld spots(20) at least at their borders and in their center.
 3. The store lift asclaimed in claim 2, characterized in that the supporting panels (13), ina region of their side borders which are to be connected to thesupporting posts (4), have U-shaped profile sections (14, 15) which facetowards the supporting posts (4) and extend in a vertical direction. 4.The store lift as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that thesupporting posts (4) are provided with punched-out portions (9) whichform retaining protrusions (10, 11).
 5. The store lift as claimed inclaim 1, characterized in that the supporting panels (13), in a regionof their side borders which are to be connected to the supporting posts(4), have U-shaped profile sections (14, 15) which face towards thesupporting posts (4) and extend in a vertical direction.
 6. The storelift as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the supporting posts(4) are provided with punched-out portions (9) which form retainingprotrusions (10, 11).
 7. The store lift as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the supporting posts (4) are provided withpunched-out, portions (9) which form retaining protrusions (10, 11). 8.The store lift as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that thepunched-out portions (9) are of H-shaped design.
 9. The store lift asclaimed in claim 8, characterized in that the supporting posts (4),proximate to at least one of their outer borders, are provided with avertically running row of said punched-out portions (9) spaced apartfrom each other.
 10. The store lift as claimed in claim 7, characterizedin that the supporting posts (4), proximate to at least one of theirouter borders, are provided with a vertically running row of saidpunched-out portions (9) spaced apart from each other.
 11. The storelift as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the supporting posts(4) have a C-profile cross section and are provided with a vertical rowof said punched-out portions (9) on both sides of a longitudinal slot(8) defined in each said supporting post (4).
 12. The store lift asclaimed in claim 7, characterized in that each of the supporting panels(13), proximate to its side borders, are provided with at least one rowof punched-out portions (17) which form protrusions (18).
 13. The storelift as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that two rows of saidpunched-out portions (17) which run vertically parallel to one anotherare arranged on each side border of each supporting panel (13).
 14. Thestore lift as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the verticalspacing between the respectively successive punched-out portions (17) ofthe supporting panels (13) and the vertical spacing between therespectively successive punched-out portions (9) of the supporting posts(4) is, at most, equal to the spacing between three of said supportingprofiles (5) successively arranged relative to each other.
 15. The storelift as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the vertical spacingbetween the respectively successive punched-out portions (17) of thesupporting panels (13) and the vertical spacing between the respectivelysuccessive punched-out portions (9) of the supporting posts (4) is, atmost, equal to the spacing between three of said supporting profiles (5)successively arranged relative to each other.
 16. The store lift asclaimed in claim 1, characterized in that the side borders of thesupporting panels (13) project beyond the end surfaces of the profilepanels (12).
 17. The store lift as claimed in claim 16, characterized inthat at least one side border of the supporting panels (13) is designedas a directing flank (16) which centers the storage-article carriers(6).
 18. The store lift as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that thewall elements (7) overlap in the region of their horizontal borders. 19.The store lift as claimed in claim 18, characterized in that the wallelements (7) are provided with protrusions (19) on one of theirhorizontal borders.
 20. The store lift as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the supporting profiles (5) have a cross sectionwhich is formed by the legs of a right-angled triangle.